Store-service apparatus



(Numdam 2 sheets-sheen 1.

' l' J. T. GOWLEY.

.STORE SERVICE APEAEETUS.

-N0.`4o2,567. Patented May 7, 1889.l

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J. T. ooWLEY.

STORE SBRVIGE'APPARATUS.

No. '42,567. Patented May 7, 1.889.

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.JAMES T. COWLEY, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE LAMSON CON-SOLIDATED STORE SERVICE COMPANY, OF NEV JERSEY.

y STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,567, dated May 7,1889. Application filed August 25, 1885. Serial No. 175,309. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: v

Be it'known that I, JAMES T. CowLEY, of `New York, in the county of NewYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Store-Service Systems; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it app'ertains tomake and use the' same, reference being had t0 the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked th ereon,which formpart of this specification.

This invention relates to store-service apparatus for stores,warehouses, and the like, and has for its object to convey cash andparcels from one place to another, or from the salesmans counter to thecashiers desk, and vice versa, by which much valuable time is saved ascompared with the old methods.

The present invention is durable in its construction, partly automaticin its operation, and easily manipulated.

To these en ds the invention consists of improvements in the receiverand restorer and car when it reaches its terminal ends, by which meansthe car is gradually received and lowered for either loading orunloading, so that when the car reaches its terminal end it is caught bythe receiver, which yields to the weight of the car, and which unwinds aspring whose resiliency is predetermined to correspond to the weight andpermits the car to easily and gradually drop to its normal posi- 4tionat either the salesmans or cashiers end. Said spring or weight is alsodesigned to take up the slack and automatically wind up the cord whenthe carrier `is restored to the way.

It further consists in meansfor raising the movable end of the track toits working posi- Vtion before the car is started on its journey overthe track or way, which is in this instance a weight, volute spring, or'other spring mechanism, all of which will be more fully hereinafterdescribed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a wire-wayapparatus, broken away in the middle. Fig. 2 is a sectional View of aspring wound within a flanged wheel,

which form l prefer to use; Fig. 3, a top plan view of a doublebifurcated or forked arm through which the operating-cord works, Fig. 4shows a modification of my receiver and restorer with a single spring.Fig. 5 is another modification f my receiver and restorer, showing aweight instead of a s wing, and it is evident that many modiicatlons maybe made without departing from the spirit of my invention. Fig. G is anenlarged view ot a portion of Fig. l, illustrating the operation of theforked arm and the cords with respect thereto.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the cashiers desk; B, thewrappers counter; C, the sales-station, and D the wire way.

E represents the rope upon which the car Fand contents are received andlowered to the counter. At the sales-station is placed an upright rod orpipe, a, from which the wireD is drawn, and upon which the carriage f ismoved up and down. This carriage f, supporting one end of the way ortrack, consists Aof a yoke or bracket enveloping the rod a and providedwith anti-friction rollers for bearing upon said rod as it is moved upand down to raise and lower the `way. Upon the rod a., at or near thetop, is placed a springroller, b, upon which is wound a cord, o, theopposite end of the latter being fastened to the carriage f, asrepresented. To the lower part of the carriage f is also attached acord, h, which passes through a forked or bifurcated arm placed at ornear the lower end of the rod or pipe d, and upon which cord is placedat proper distances stops to regulate the grade or inclination of thetrack.

One end of a rope, E, is attached to a springroller, g, or it may be toa weight, W, as in Fig. 5, which is so adjusted as to prevent the carfrom lowering without the assistance of a salesman, and to also take upthe slack o the rope used in lowering the car. to the proper distan cebelow the trackA when the car is raised. VIn operating the apparatus thesales man rst places the goods or cash in the re ceptacle, then releasesthe cord h from the forked arm mf, when the cord o will be wound uponthe spring-roller b, thus at the same time raising the end of the trackto the proper elevation. The slack in the rope E, caused IDO by thusraising the wire way or track, will of course be taken up bythespring-roller g, and this will result whether the way be raised when thecar is in the position shown in Figs. l and 4, or whether the car befirst elevated to the way ready to travel thereover to its Another wayof elevating the track would,

be to have the forked arm 'm pivoted at fn, Fig. G, to the side of therod or pipe a., and having a button, y, placed on the rope E, sopositioned with respect to the forked arm that when the slack in therope E is taken up by the spring-drum g in the act of elevating the earto the track the said button 1/ will contact with the arm m at one sideof its pivot and tilt it downward, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. G.rlhis tilting of the arln nl will raise its opposite end, so as topermit the cord )'1l to slip out of the fork at that end, its button i'.sliding outwardly against the under side of the arm until it reaches anopening large enough to permit it to pass, thus allowing the track to beelevated through the tension of the spring in the winding-drum Z1.

The cord 7l has three buttons or stops, Z, t', and j, upon it, themiddle one, 1', being the smallest. The button Z by contact with the armm limits the downward pull upon the cord 7L, and thus determines thelower position of the track and prevents it from being pulled down toofar. The smaller button, t', as beforestated, contacts with the underside of the arm m, and when the latter is in its horizontal or normalposition will preventthethe meantime takes up the slack rope E.

There is a like spring-roller at the cashiers end for like purpose.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

l. In an apparatus for store-service, a receiver and rcstorer, one endof said restorer having a spring take-up mechanism for raising the carto the track, in combination with a spring elevating device for raisingthe sliding end of the track, as set forth.

2. The combination, with the track of a store-service apparatus, of ayoke or bracket provided with anti-friction rollers, a pivoted arm, m,and a graduated rope or cord for raising and lowering said yoke andcontacting with said arm, as set forth.

3. The combination, with a store-service apparatus provided with areceiver and. restorer and a cord for raising and lowering the same, ofthe forked arm m and a pulley with the spring roller mechanism, as setforth.

4. In a store-service apparatus, the combination of the car, the track,a cord upon which the car is received and lowered at the end of thetrack, a spring mechanism which takes up the slack of said cord when theear is placed on the track, another cord and spring mechanism whichautomatically elevates the end Iof the track, and buttons for holdingthe last said cord and spring meehanism from moving, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a store-service apparatus, the combination, with the car and thetraclgof a rope upon which the car is received and lowered, a cord bywhich one end of the track is raised, a button on said cord, and apivoted forked arm, with which said button engages, adapted to betripped by the rope on which the car is received to permit the last saidcord and spring mechanism to operate, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

JAS. T. CO\VLEY.

Vitnesses:

JOHN WM. MACCUBBIN, JOSEPH MAXWELL.

